Mar 22, 2009

The Elephant Fish

I can't believe I've never heard of the elephant shark (Callorhinchus milii). What a crime!

This shark lives off of the Australian and New Zealand coast. That hoe-shaped snout has been endowed with a variety of sensory organs that allow it to better hunt down its prey. The large pectoral fins are for propulsion through the water, and the bucktooth look is for awkward yearbook photos.

Thanks for the photo, Lee.

11 comments:

Cat said...

Don't feel too bad, dude. I haven't heard about it either.

It is silly-looking!

Sabina E. said...

Me three, never heard of it, either! It looks sooooooo weird and funny!

Zanna said...

You can't even look at it without imagining it saying "DURRR... Doop de durr"...

Anonymous said...

Technically, it's not a shark, it's a type of chimaera. Closely related to sharks, though.

Anonymous said...

"DURRR... Doop de durr" I laughed good. Damn, glad you posted. Elephant shark now has a better reason to smile.

Anonymous said...

P.S: Have you noticed its... Vagoo?

Anonymous said...

Looks like a Dork Fish to me.

Unknown said...

Dorkfish! What'd you catch 'em with?

"Corndog."

cowsharky said...

Actually, I don't think that's a vagoo. It looks more like claspers, a dual set of copulating organs that male sharks have. The name comes from an old belief that the males used them to hold on to the female while mating.

And yes, that means that boy sharks have two penii.

Denita TwoDragons said...

You remember the Warner Brothers cartoons with the goofy vulture? Why do I have this shark using that same voice! LOL

Cowsharky--Here's what my face looked like when I read your comment:

:-' :-I :-o 8-O :-S !!

--TwoDragons

Anonymous said...

Yeah, looks like a Chimaera to me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimaera